Tokenized stock trading is witnessing significant growth as two major cryptocurrency exchanges, Kraken and Bitget, emerge as leaders in the sector, despite the prevailing regulatory challenges in the United States. This surge comes at a time when many U.S.-based platforms are either sidelined or navigating complex regulations related to offering tokenized equities.
Kraken was the first to capitalize on this new trend by launching its xStocks platform in June 2025 in partnership with Backed, enabling its users to trade tokenized U.S. equities and ETFs. The platform has garnered substantial engagement, processing over $5 billion in xStocks transactions, which include more than $1 billion in on-chain activity involved with about 37,000 unique holders. However, it’s important to note that U.S. users are barred from access due to regulatory restrictions. Kraken’s xStocks platform aims to bridge the gap between traditional financial markets and blockchain technology, enhancing trading flexibility through features like extended hours and fractional trading.
Despite Kraken’s early success—holding up to 97% of the market share for tokenized equities—its dominance waned to approximately 55% by early 2026, primarily due to the entry of Bitget into the market.
In September 2025, Bitget launched its own tokenized stock trading capabilities in collaboration with Ondo Finance, a move that reshaped the competitive landscape. By November of the same year, Bitget had achieved nearly $1 billion in trading volume for Ondo-issued tokenized stocks, capturing approximately 89% of the global volume for these tokens. Unlike Kraken, Bitget does not issue its own tokenized equities but instead offers access to Ondo’s expanding range of products. The growth of liquidity and broadening of listings on Bitget’s platform enabled it to swiftly increase its market share.
Meanwhile, U.S. exchanges such as Robinhood and Coinbase remain largely restrained due to regulatory uncertainties. Although Robinhood launched a tokenized stocks product targeted at EU users in June 2025, the service encountered scrutiny from European regulators, stalling any potential expansion into the U.S. Coinbase has announced intentions to introduce tokenized stocks, contingent upon achieving full regulatory compliance, but as of now, no products have been launched.
Other platforms like Securitize are attempting to navigate this complex landscape with plans to roll out fully regulated shares in 2026, including real shareholder rights. Previous Securitize offerings, like the Exodus shares, indicated early involvement in equity tokenization prior to the current exchange-led advancements.
As of early 2026, the total value of on-chain public equities is estimated at nearly $850 million, with monthly trading volumes reaching approximately $2.4 billion. The trading scene involves more than 155,000 participants, primarily outside of U.S. jurisdiction due to ongoing legal uncertainty. Current data from Dune Analytics indicates that Kraken and Bitget will likely continue to be the principal players driving global trading volume in tokenized stocks. As regulatory clarity emerges in the U.S., the competitive dynamics could shift, potentially allowing domestic exchanges to regain some of the market share currently held by their overseas counterparts.
